Social Media Evokes Mixed Emotions: Some Make Money On It, Most Want More Help With It

More than 8,300 of you told us your success stories, struggles, hopes, and fears when it comes to social media. Several love it, others strongly dislike it, and many said they just don't know the best ways to use it. The poll was conducted from 12/27/21 to 2/11/22.

First off, we learned that nearly 66% of small businesses use social media to promote their businesses currently.

And another 11% say they have used it in the past for promotion, while more than 6% say they plan to tap it in the future to showcase their businesses.

In the survey comments, poll-takers said some of their favorite content to feature in social media includes:

• special weekly deals
• holiday promotions
• short, branded YouTube videos offering advice
• event announcements to drive foot traffic for retail establishments or virtual attendance for B2B operations
• infographics including poll information and relevant tips
• general news about their business -- milestones, media coverage, etc.

But How Many Can Say Social Made Them Money?

We then asked them about financial successes that came directly from social media activity.

We were happy to learn that more than half (52%) have already experienced monetary gain via social media.

Shelve those selfies, folks -- social can be serious business.

Digging deeper into these results, more than 11% of those polled said they've experienced a lot of growth through social media.

However, 34% said they've seen little to no growth, at least not yet.

And more than 9% weren't sure either way.  See the details below:

71% Said They Could Use Some Assistance

While more than half of the SMB owners polled said they've earned money on social media, an even larger majority (71%) rated their social media skills as less than ideal, noting that they'd like to improve their performance.

Here are more details:

• 42% said their social media work has been "hit or miss"
  
• nearly 16% said they need some help
• 13% said they "need all the help they can get."

As a follow-up question, we asked, "Where do you need the most help with social media?"

Reviewing the answers, many different aspects of the social media process were highlighted. The Top 5 were:

• Growing your social media following -- 42%
• Determining which social platforms are most effective -- 40%
• Learning how the latest social media management tools can help grow your business -- 37%
• Creating social media posts -- 34%
• Choosing what types of content to post -- 27%
  

Other topics of interest included:

• How to automate scheduling social media posts
• The difference between organic and paid social media
• How paid social media works.

Now For Some Social Solutions

Given these poll results -- and the many topics small business owners would like to learn about related to social media -- we created Alignable's Social Media Solutions Marketplace, which launches today.

Whether you're a social media expert already, or your efforts are "hit or miss," or you "need all the help you can get," there's some great information for you in our new guide. Plus you can find some exclusive offers from cutting-edge brands.

Go here now to see the guide and get the help you need. And feel free to share your experiences with social media in the comment section below. Your posts might just end up in future newsletters and news coverage.